8-6 



on abundances, size and seasonality of impinged epibenthic inverte- 

 brates. In addition to New Haven Harbor Station, impingement data are 

 available for Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Waterford, Connecticut; 

 Bridgeport Harbor Station, Bridgeport Harbor; Devon Station, Housatonic 

 River; Middletown Station, Connecticut River; Montville Station, Thames 

 River estuary; Norwalk Harbor Station, Norwalk Harbor; Northport Sta- 

 tion, Northport, Long Island; Port Jefferson Station, Port Jefferson, 

 Long Island and Glenwood Station, Glenwood, Long Island. Data from 

 these stations have been used to qualify observations made in New Haven 

 Harbor and they provide input into evaluation of seasonal movements of 

 migratory species. 



CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW HAVEN HARBOR EPIBENTHIC INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY 



During the course of the New Haven Harbor Station Ecological 

 Monitoring Studies, 44 epibenthic invertebrate taxa were collected 

 (Table 8-1) . Fourteen taxa were common to all years of the program (1971- 

 1977) ; an additional six were encountered during all of the last five 

 years of the study (1973-1977) (Table 8-1). The total nximber of epi- 

 benthic taxa collected yearly did not vary s\abstantially. Maximum 

 niombers of taxa were collected during 1972 (28 taxa) and 1977 (27 taxa) , 

 while the least numbers were observed in 1975 and 1976 (24 taxa each 

 year) (Table 8-1) . Largely as a result of variations in the abundance 

 of Crangon, total annual abundance varied substantially from year to 

 year. Highest annual abundances of all species were observed during 

 1975 (114,000 individuals) and 1977 (112,000 individuals) while lowest 

 abundances occurred during 1974 (56,000 individuals) and 1976 (76,000 

 individuals) (Table 8-2) . The 1-3/8" mesh on the wings and body of the 

 otter trawl is actually too large to effectively sample Crangon. By 

 comparison of duplicate tows, however, it can be seen that reasonably 

 comparable numbers are collected and therefore Crangon abundance esti- 

 mates are included. 



The distribution of epibenthic invertebrates in New Haven 

 Harbor is governed by a number of factors, including: sediment type, 



